I'm baaaack!

You thought I'd abandoned you. I was feeling that I didn't have enough to say. Then yesterday I attended a workshop on "publicizing yourself" for authors, and decided to jump back into the game. Here I am again, live on video (scroll to the end to see me actually speak).

Meanwhile,. I got my Harper Collins review - part encouraging, part moronic. Get ready for the stupid parts:

The setting of Boston... could alienate any non-US audience.

Hello, you idiot at Harper Collins UK - we have zillions more readers here than in your dinky little island nation. And I don't think a British setting hurt U.S. sales of those kids' fantasy books that were popular not too long ago. This one rates a big HUH?

But wait, there's more:

I think the story would work better with a male protagonist than a female heroine. Although it will appeal to some women, the comic style and narrative seems better suited for a male readership rather than a female audience who I think would be a difficult market for the novel.

Let me get this straight. Women don't enjoy humor, so change my funny, witty, smart heroine into a GUY???? DOUBLE HUH??

This reviewer needs a head transplant, though she did also say, The tone is light and witty and there are some truly great descriptions in the narrative which keeps the writing fresh and visual.

At her suggestion, and that of some other agents, I'm rewriting to expand the heroine's background, after which I'll send it to my beloved book doctor again before shopping it around to some agents for the LAST time.

And now, watch me live from my bedroom to yours!

Recommended Reads

While you wait for my Harper Collins editor's review, here are two terrific reads by friends of mine.

Michelle Hoover's The Quickening is a lyrically written and haunting story of life in the rural midwest during the depression. The New Yorker said, "In Hoover's debut, the quiet struggle between two Midwestern farm women has the stark simplicity of a Biblical parable....The book's lament for a lost way of life—one in which people 'looked in hope to the ground and the roots growing there more often than we looked for grace from the sky'—has a mournful beauty."

You can purchase The Quickening on Amazon.

Another friend, Amy Axelrod, has written a funny and poignant story of an unusual childhood, in which the heroine takes solace from a family in turmoil by writing letters featuring her very own fashion designs to first lady Jackie Kennedy. Though aimed primarily at a young adult audience, baby boomer women will be as captivated as I was by Your Friend in Fashion, Abby Shapiro.
Happy reading.

I won!!!!

Animal Cracker made it to the Editor's Desk on Harper Collins's Authonomy site. Number three no less! This means that some time within the next two months a real live Harper Collins editor will review the book and consider it for publication.

To be sure, publication's a long shot. Still, it's pretty gratifying to have been selected out of thousands of books.

Watch this space.

Vote for My Book Part 2

Another day, another vote!

Reminder: I'm entered into a contest sponsored by Harper Collins UK on their Authonomy website. Writers submit their work and get "backed - voted on - and rated by others on the site. The top five books get considered for publication by real live Harper Collins editors. And, ta da - out of about 5,000 authors on the site, I'm currently number 21!!!

You can vote for me by going to the site, registering, and backing and rating (six stars if you please) Animal Cracker. It's easy and might actually help me get published. Here's the link to the Authonomy website and my book.

Thanks for your support!

My Screenplay

I've made some noise about my screenplay, but now I'm not just blowing smoke - I finished it! Look for English Only in your local multiplex (or more likely art house) in a couple of years. Unfortunately, unlike the book biz, where self-publication has become a viable and inexpensive option, producing one's own movie on the cheap is less likely. So, if you know anyone in the movie biz, send 'em my way!

My comic novel Animal Cracker is still up and climbing the charts at authonomy.com. Check it out!

Have a great long weekend!

Two contests

I must have an ego the size of a walnut. In the interest of expanding it to peach-size, I have entered two popularity contests.

In my quest to enjoy a vacation of hard labor in Brazil, I began in 47th place (out of 70 contestants) and have worked my way up to 22nd. Go friends and family who vote for me daily!!!!

My novel ANIMAL CRACKER now appears on authonomy.com. I began life there at 3700 and I'm now up to 1100. If I reach the top, Harper Collins, which owns the site, will take a look. So, if you care to drop in on the authonomy site and see a very different version of my prose style, feel free.

You can read my book!

Yes, it's true. I've posted my comic novel, Animal Cracker, on a site owned by Harper Collins called Authonomy. Those books judged the most popular (by being "backed" by readers) actually have a shot at publication by Harper Collins.

Yes, while my trip to Brazil popularity contest continues, I've entered another. Why do I keep competing in these? Perhaps it's time to return to the shrink. Hmmmmm....

In any case, feel free to read my book. It's all there. I hope you laugh. Here you go: Animal Cracker by Andi Brown

BRAZIL HELP

I'll admit it - my youthful competition for the Travelocity Travel for Good scholarship is beating the pants off me. HEEEEELPPPPP! I need lots of people voting daily so that I can win the opportunity to help babies, elders and people with HIV/AIDS in Salvador, Brazil. You can vote here via the link, but even better would be to join my daily email list. How it works: I send you an email with the voting link every morning, you click twice and you're done. It takes TEN SECONDS (I clocked it).

Here's the link: Send Andi to Brazil. Or, just shoot me a quick email and I'll put you on the daily email. My email is andib88@comcast.net

Thank you so much, or, as they say in Brazil, muito obrigada.
Gratefully,
Andi

SEND ME TO BRAZIL!

I have applied for a scholarship to win a volunteer vacation to Salvador, Brazil. And you can help. Please watch my video and vote for me. It's easy to forward to friends, and - yes, it's true - you can vote daily. The more votes I get, the better my chances of winning. Here's the link. http://www.volunteerjournals.com/volunteer-travel-grants/entries/send-andi-brazil

Thanks for your help!

Hopeful again!

James, James my man...what happened? You were so not into your hosting role. Were you up late cramming for an exam the night before? We just might have to bring back my other man (Alec, for those new to the blog). Let's just blame the writers - they gave you NOTHING TO DO.

Book doc has diagnosed rewrite, declares it healthy and ready for prime time. I've resubmitted it to the interested agent, and to five new ones besides. Waiting game, what else is new?

After a week away in Florida - don't be jealous, it was a business trip - I must rediscipline myself and resume the screenplay. My job is never done....

Maybe my next posting will contain some real NEWS!

Breaking the Silence

I don't understand how people can keep up the tweets. In the interest of sparing you the boring minutiae of my life, I took a hiatus from the blog. But I'm back!

With no news!

Well, a little. I went to a fabulous extravaganza called Vogue Knitting Live in New York a couple of weeks ago, where I practically swooned from the sheer sensory delight of being surrounded by yarns, knitted garments and knitters.

But you don't care about that. How's this? Amy, my pseudonymous book doctor, is, as we speak, poring over the last third of my book with an eye to jazzing it up, as requested by VERY complimentary agent. I await her sage counsel.

AND....I have finally, really and truly, in earnest, started my screenplay. It's fun, and funny and I'm grooving right along. Almost finished with the outline, next I have to write a "treatment" (yes, I am up on my Hollywood lingo).

Oh, and one more thing. Yesterday, I turned 60.